Plans to fight homelessness in Metro Vancouver have stalled: mayor

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Metro Vancouver has come up with a three-pronged approach to try and fight growing homelessness in our region that includes prevention, emergency intervention and permanent response.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson says progress in recent years when the province built 1,500 units of supportive housing built has now stalled.

“The last of those projects was completed two years ago and there has been zero commitment to further supportive housing since then. So, there are no supportive housing projects in the City of Vancouver right now.”

Robertson says there are about 4,000 homeless people in across the region — much more than three years ago and he adds there are an estimated 70 tent camps.

A Metro Vancouver homelessness task force says there is a homeless crisis in every corner of Metro Vancouver, where the number of homeless people living outside shelters has jumped 26-per-cent annually since 2011.

Years ago, Robertson promised to end homelessness by 2015 in Vancouver but has since admitted the plan failed and points out the last homeless count in the city produced the highest numbers yet.

“What’s different here is people are spread all over the region now and these past couple of years — we’ve seen homelessness across the region and people in tent camps because there’s not enough housing, not enough shelter and it’s problem that we’re all struggling with now.”

Homeless counts are done every three years in the region and this year it will take place over 24 hours on March 7th and 8th. The event tallies data and demographics of the region’s homeless population.

The Minister Responsible for Housing, Rich Coleman, has issued a statement in response to the homelessness report:

“The Metro Vancouver Regional Homelessness Task Force Report provides a reminder that partnerships are necessary to provide the supports to address and prevent homelessness. All levels of government and community-based organizations must work together to address this challenging issue.

“Together with the federal government and our community partners, the B.C. government invested more than $375 million in Metro Vancouver last year to provide affordable housing and rent supplements to more than 61,000 low-income households. This includes more than $138 million to provide emergency shelter and housing for the homeless.

“There are about 1,900 units of affordable rental housing, including nearly 300 units for the homeless, in development or under construction in the region. We also recently announced approximately $100 million in capital funding to create 1,600 new units of affordable rental housing in Metro Vancouver.”

“We are proud of our investments to address homelessness in Metro Vancouver, and recognize our partners can also play more meaningful roles…”

Coleman suggests municipal zoning could accommodate higher densities with an expedited process to speed up the delivery of rental housing. In the statement, he also mentions potential federal tax incentives for the creation of affordable housing.